After traveling for months on end and meeting countless people, it’s rare that someone is able to surprise me. Rare, but not impossible. I met my friend Kichaa Chitrakar while trekking the Annapurna Circuit in Nepal. After knowing him for months, the topic of painting came up. “You can paint?” I asked casually. As soon […]
Book Review: The Dalai Lama’s Cat by David Michie
Every year for my birthday, my husband buys me a book. This year, we somehow found ourselves adopted by a sweet little street cat. Yes, you read that right. She adopted us. She decided our home was her home, and we never had the heart to tell her it wasn’t. That’s how we got Dani, […]
Losar Festival: Tibetan New Year in Nepal
Nepal is such an interesting country with different festivals happening every couple of weeks. Each caste and ethnic group has its own celebrations and traditions. One of the biggest festivals among Tibetan Buddhists is the Losar Festival. Losar is the Tibetan word for “New Year.” Nepal runs on the Bikram Sambat Calendar. This means that […]
Namo Buddha Monastery: Temple Guide and Photography
Namo Buddha Monastery is a Buddhist monastery located just a couple of hours from the capital city of Kathmandu. It’s a great day hike from Dhulikhel and is worth visiting if you’re interested in learning about Buddhism. You can stay at the monastery guest house and eat with the monks and attend their chanting sessions […]
Book Review: Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
I downloaded Siddhartha by Herman Hesse after a friend recommended it to me. To be honest, I didn’t really know what it was about and had wrongfully assumed it was the story of Buddha. My friend had described it as “simple but profound” and he was right. Siddhartha tells the story of a boy (who […]
Book Review: Buddha by Deepak Chopra
On my quest to learn about other cultures, I’ve become truly fascinated by Buddhism. The principles are simple and at the same time are so difficult to follow. Personally, working towards being less attached to physical items has been extremely challenging for me. After living out of a backpack for almost three months, I’m starting […]